Piano Fairy
by Loki-Roki
Summary: A Love Letter and a Bento Box. Doesn't sound that hard, does it? And if it is, you'd take it to the Otogi Bank for help, right? Thing's aren't that easy for OC Tsumugi, who not only has a combined case of Accident Prone and Bad luck, but also has it bad for the President of the Bank himself; Liszt Kiriki. A small story I had on my hard-drive forever. PL-0 (See bio for rating info)


**[Authors Note]** Hey all, I know this isn't the Down Into My Shadow chapter I've been getting done for you all, but I thought considering that it's been a while since I posted, that I'd scour my Hard-Drive for something that's already kind of done - I wrote this one about two years ago, if that gives you an idea. This is Part One of what's a Three-Part Short Story, so before everyone starts expecting it to be like The Fear Of Blood or Down Into My Shadow in length, this is what I would actually class as a One-Shot split up into three. There's actually a lot of stuff like this already on my hard-drive completed, it's just that I've never really considered uploading them. If you're all interested in short things like this, then please let me know ;) If that's the case, then I'll see what else I can upload. I do a lot of writing like this in between writing parts for the longer stories, so there's lots of writing being done, it's just not necessarily what people are interested in atm.

In any case, please enjoy the Short-Story, and if there are any particular errors or problems, then let me know. Any kind of constructive feedback is greatly appreciated!

Melon Fox Jozei / Josaphina out!

 **Piano Fairy ~ An _Ookami_ - _san_ to Shichinin no Nakamatachi Short Story**

~ Because I feel Liszt Kiriki doesn't have enough of a fan following online ^_~

It was another bright and sunny day over at the Otogi Academy, bringing warmth and energy over the property as the many students made their way to school. Many of these students were happily conversing with each other, as if there was nothing wrong with their lives at all – Such was the way of life here at Otogi Academy.

For one particular girl, however, the day could hardly be any further from bright and sunny. In fact, this girl could really be the gloomiest girl in the whole of Otogi Academy. Her small stature made it hard for anyone to really see her; In fact, she was often viewed as young-looking for her age, however she wasn't to the extent of a Lolita girl. Long, chocolate coloured hair left loose framed a pale face touched with a pair of chestnut coloured eyes, and a small frame was delicately clad in a grey vest, white blouse and a grey pleated skirt, contrasted with a pair of black tights. Her black school-shoes made clacking noises against the pavement as she came around the last corner just over a hundred meters from the front gates of the Otogi Academy. Her name is Tsumugi Ootori, a first year at Otogi Academy.

It was a puzzle to anyone as to why little Tsumugi was so gloomy on such a warm and inviting day, and for the most part, no one seemed to notice that she was even there, let alone why she was so gloomy to begin with. It was easy to speculate that _this_ was the reason for her depressed mood; But then you'd be wrong.

It wasn't even because she was late for school – However that could attribute to her mood, as the young girl flinched at the sudden chiming of the Academy's bell.

No, what was really upsetting this young girl was a case of Unrequited Love. And not the cheesy 'I'm in love with the most popular guy in the Academy' kind of Unrequited Love. Something a bit more genuine than hormonal girls salivatating whilst chasing after school idols.

Tsumugi let out the faintest of squeaks as she tried to pick up the pace to get to class – After all, she didn't want to be late on a Monday of all days.

Usually, when students come across problems related to love, bullies and other stuff, quite a lot of them went to a place that was called The Otogi Academy Mutual Student Aid Association, or more commonly known as Otogi Bank. It wasn't like a councelor's office or anything like that, but rather a place where a group of students gathered to perform Favors for students of the school, in return for favors payable down the track. However, there was one reason why Tsumugi didn't follow the actions of the other students at the Academy and visit the Otogi Bank—

The President of the Otogi Bank, Liszt Kiriki, was the object of Tsumugi's affections.

This made life for Tsumugi more difficult than she could cope with. Not only was the object of her affections the head of the only place that would _help_ her with her predicament, whenever she hurt herself or did something thoroughly embarrassing, it was always coincidentally in the moment that Liszt Kiriki would come walking around the corner to stumble upon her. You could say that calling her Accident-prone was one of those unfortunate understatements - She was just lucky Liszt was an upper-classman – she would have already died from the humiliation of her in-class accidents combined with outside ones if she was in fact in the same class as him.

Of course the guy was always light hearted about it and didn't particularly laugh at Tsumugi whenever he did stumble upon her in these situations, the fact that he knew her name because of her misfortunes was more than she could bare. It had gotten so bad for Tsumugi that she often tried to run away the moment she saw him come around that corner, only to promptly trip over and injure herself further.

As it stood, Tsumugi's gloomy mood had absolutely nothing to do with being overlooked.

After nearly tripping three times, and almost runing into a glass sliding door, Tsumugi finally reached the door to her class-room accident-free. She slumped against the wall just before the door as she fought to catch her breath, her small bag hanging loosely from her right shoulder as she hoped to whoever could hear her, that she had gotten here before the teacher.

'Oh – Ootori-chan.' Came a voice from right behind Tsumugi all of a sudden, catching her by surprise. With a small squeak of fright, Tsumugi tried to spin around to face who had managed to sneak up on her. Unfortunately for Tsumugi, she had forgotten to make any allowances for the door handle in her swift spin, and the strap of her bag caught on it. The recoil of the motion sent her crashing to the floor behind her in the most undignified manner possible – Luckily for her, the tights she wore had at least made sure she didn't flash her underwear on the way down. She'd learned her lesson well the first time.

Silence had met Tsumugi in reaction to her mis fortunate fall, causing the young girl to let out the faintest of a whimper as she propped herself upright on one elbow to rub her injured head with her free hand. Given the manner in which she had fallen over, Tsumugi had unfortunately forgotten the reason in which she did fall; That was until she saw a hand held out to her through her watery gaze.

'Here – Let me help you.' Came that same voice, and it was in this moment where she wasn't startled that she actually recognised the voice. If it weren't for the knock to the head she'd just sustained, Tsumugi would have already burst into tears. The ever smiling face of Liszt Kiriki was right there, his short blonde hair an almost intricate mess against his pale face. Just like normal, Tsumugi couldn't see what colour his eyes were; They were always drawn closed with that signature smile of his. Letting out the tiniest of sighs, Tsumugi focused hard on _not_ bursting into tears as she reluctantly accepted Liszt's hand up. Her head was still throbbing in pain as she managed to stabolise herself on her shaky feet.

'Th-thank you ...' Tsumugi managed to speak, averting her gaze from the young man who was still standing just in front of her. She bit down on her lip, hoping more than anything else that this wasn't that unfortunate time where he'd finally be unable to contain his laughter.

'It's alright – But please be more careful.' Liszt's words came, much like normal he said pretty much the same thing whenever he stumbled upon one of her accidents. 'I wouldn't want you to hurt yourself.'

'I-I'll try...' Tsumugi was having more than enough trouble getting her words to work; It felt like her face was beet red, and she was of course aware that the young man could see her vibrant colouration. There wasn't anything else that was said – Tsumugi fought hard not to let out a sniffle as she heard the young man bid her farewell and begin to continue on his way towards wherever it was that he was going.

Tsumugi prodded at the small lump that began to swell at the back of her head, her bottom lip trembling as she tried to get a hold of herself. She wasn't really a cry-baby. Embarrassing oneself in front of the object of one's utmost affections was a devastating thing for a teenage girl – And she accomplished this on a daily basis. Deciding to go hide out on the roof of the academy for the first class to calm herself down, Tsumugi began to make her way down the hallway – Coincidentally the way that Liszt had gone just moments before. However, she had the gut feeling that she was safe this time.

Upon reaching the door to the rooftop, Tsumugi searched through her small bag for her mobile telephone. While she was technically acting like a delinquint at that moment, she wanted to at least get a message to her mother before the Academy contacted home about her whereabouts. While her mother would be disappointed with her, Tsumugi at least knew the woman would let her off the hook for explaining the situation to her. Mother was one of those soppy romance-loving moms with a toboyish, stubborn and stern facade; And one who at least had some understanding for Tsumugi's current predicament.

Finally locating her telephone, Tsumugi pulled the green electrical device from the front pocket of her bag as she opened the door with her free hand. A cool spring breeze swept across Tsumugi's face as she stepped out onto the rooftop, making that knock to the head a little less painful for her. As she carefully keyed in her mother's telephone number, Tsumugi propped herself against the fenceline along the north-east corner of the rooftop. The familiar sound of a dial-tone echoed through the earpiece of the green phone as Tsumugi gently placed the speaker to her ear, closing her eyes as she continued to press her fingers against the lump at the back of her head. It felt like the size of a golf-ball, but her head was beginning to numb down a little, making it at least tollerable.

'Hello – Aki speaking.' Came the familiar voice of the person that was Tsumugi's mother.

'Hey Mom ...'

'Tsumugi –?' Mom spoke, her tone somewhat surprised – That was until she spoke again. 'What are you doing calling me now? Aren't you supposed to be in class?'

'Yeah – I kinda had another accident ...' A sigh came in response to Tsumugi's less than energetic response, however Tsumugi wasn't actually bothered by it.

'In front of this young man of yours again, was it?' Mom's question was more of a statement, and of course Tsumugi didn't really say anything. This was the normal routeen for Tsumugi when she was too upset to go to class. 'What did you do this time?'

'I-I didn't do anything.' Tsumugi began, lowering her hand from the back of her head to play with the hemming of her skirt instead, however her gaze was really upon the pavement past her feet. 'I got to class without an accident for the first time … but he managed to surprise me-'

'So you fell on your face again?'

'N-no...' Tsumugi let out an exasperated breath this time, and shifted her gaze over to the door of the rooftop. 'The strap of my bag got caught on the doorhandle when I turned around.'

'Oh.' Mom seemed to let out one of those sheepish laughs for just a moment, and it caught Tsumugi's attention. 'Yeah, I've done that before – Did you manage to avoid hitting your head on the floor?'

'Not really.' Tsumugi replied, blinking away the left over liquid that was dancing in front of her eyes; The fact that her Mother seemed to have done exactly what had happened made Tsumugi feel at least a bit better. 'The back of my head's numb now, but there's a lump there.'

'You've hurt yourself enough to know if it's serious or not.' Mom commented, however there was an unspoken question there – The silence that echoed for a moment was proof enough for that.

'It's not. I was just really upset – I wanted to calm down before I go back to class. You know?' Once again, another sigh came through the earpiece.

'Alright. When the Academy rings up, I'll tell them you'll be there in time for second class.'

'Thanks Mom -'

'But you've gotta hurry up and find a way to sort this out already. Not that letting you cut class cause you're upset again bothers me or anything, but this is really starting to get old.' Tsumugi could only let out a breath at her mother's words.

'Yeah, I know.' Tsumugi spoke, closing her eyes as she once again began to feel somewhat depressed about the whole situation. 'I've been trying – really, I have.'

'I understand that.' Mom spoke, letting out her own breath in another of those sighs. It sounded like she came to a decision on her end of the line, which caused Tsumugi to flinch as she immediately realised that this was _not_ a good thing. 'I'll tell the Academy you'll be there by the end of lunch – but you _have_ to figure out what you're going to do about this by then. Are we in agreement?'

'No – It's alright. I'll be in class by second class.'

'Tsumugi.' Mom spoke Tsumugi's name in a reproachful tone, which of course silenced the depressed teen before she even knew what to say. 'You're going to figure out a plan for this today – I expect to hear that you've finally grabbed hold of your prospective boyfriend by the end of the week.' The reproachful tone Mom continued to speak in had Tsumugi silently admit defeat. Mom was not one to argue with when she got like this.

'Okay … I'll try.'

'You won't _try,_ you'll get it sorted.' Mom once again seemed to let out one of those sighs. 'It's been three months, and I want to meet this young man, already.'

'Yes-'

'Good – Now I'll see you after school. Bye-' Mom finished up all of a sudden, and before Tsumugi could so much as say goodbye, the line clicked before the connection ended. As the beeping tones of the disconnected line echoed, Tsumugi lowered the phone from her ear to stare down at the green and silver buttons.

That was a strict order; How was Tsumugi supposed to come up with a way to get Liszt Kiriki's attention without making a complete fool of herself? Tsumugi didn't have her mother's Iron Will, nor did she have what Mom called Ambition, which really was her own name for acting like a stubborn Mule. Tsumugi's father was the quiet, passive one of the couple, and Tsumugi had inherrited every meek and passive trait between her Mom and Dad. Her brother, who was in his last year of Elementary School, was the one that inherrited all of the other traits that Mom seemed to be overflowing in. The only trait Tsumugi seemed to have picked up from her mother was the severe case of Accident-Prone.

Tsumugi had already assumed the worst for her chances, before Mom even put her personal brand of trouble on the whole situation. Now, Tsumugi was certain she'd stress herself out so bad she'd fall down the stairs or something.

Tsumugi carefully put her phone back in the front pocket of her bag, before she pulled out the one book that she had with her today. It was a spiral-bound notebook with a green felt-like cover. Silver butterflies were drawn with metalic pens over the fuzzy material, giving it a rather personalized look. The pages inside the cover of the book were outlined with a leaf green border, which slowly faded to white as the pages slowly ran out at the end of the notebook. She gently opened the cover of her notebook, pausing for just a moment to admire the picture that was drawn into the front page of the book itself.

Tsumugi's dad had drawn this for her in lead pencil, however Tsumugi loved it never the less. It was a picture of Tsumugi herself, clutching what looked to be a chibi version of Liszt Kiriki tightly to her chest with one of those overexadurated cute faces. She had no idea how her dad knew what Liszt looked like to get such a close resemblence to Liszt in the picture, but she was touched; Tsumugi came home one day after a particularly bloody accident, to find that her brand new book was left open on her desk, with the sketch in place. At the time she was horrified that her Dad knew about her current affections for the President of the Otogi Bank, but now it just didn't matter anymore.

Her dad never brought this up with her; He just smiled and left Tsumugi alone – Her dad understood that she was shy and didn't know what to do, because she got her personality from him.

Slowly, Tsumugi let out a breath as she finally turned the pages of her notebook to the next clean page. She had to try and think of what she was going to do – Her Mom would probably take matters into her own hands if Tsumugi put this off too long.

 **U*-~-~-*-~-~-*U**

Hours passed before Tsumugi had even managed to come up with a single idea, and even that one was scratched out as soon as she read it on the page. The recess bell had rung barely minutes ago and Tsumugi was quickly running out of time. About the only thing she kept on coming back to was to ask the Otogi Bank for some advice, but that doubled back with her original dilemma – Liszt would be there, and she had the feeling that he liked to know _everything_ that went on in that place.

What could she do? Who could she talk to? Tsumugi's friends in the Academy were on a trip with the Photography Club for a week starting today, and her Mom had very-nearly given her an alternatum about the situation to start off with. About the only thing Tsumugi thought might be viable was an old and cliché idea she'd thought of months ago, involving a letter, a home-made bento and trying to get it to Liszt without him realising it was her before he read the letter.

That was probably the only thing Tsumugi could do – If she tried anything else, her accident-prone ways and stomach-churning shy streak would ensure she landed in either the sick bay or hospital.

But again, that still came back to the same problem; Her mom had given her a deadline, her friends were away until _after_ said deadline, and the only people left to ask for help was the Otogi Bank. Tsumugi _would_ have already just given up on the idea, if her Mom wouldn't lecture her about it for a month.

Tsumugi let out a breath as she gently set her notebook down on her bag, leaning against the fence to gaze over the edge of the building. She could see many people wandering around outside; Coincidentally, Tsumugi could also see the front of the Otogi Bank from way up here.

That really was her only option right at this moment, wasn't it?

Something caught Tsumugi's eye just as she went to look back at her notebook; The form of her affections had just stepped out of the Otogi Bank, a folder tucked beneath one arm as he began to make his way towards the main building of the Academy. It looked like he had a lot of paperwork he had to deliver. Dragging her gaze from the courtyard below, and to the notebook sitting innocently atop her bag, Tsumugi soon realised that the President of Otogi Bank was often carying paperwork with him on a day-to-day basis. That meant there were opportunities for her to actually visit the Otogi Bank when he wasn't there – and if her request was something as simple as getting a bento and letter to Liszt without him seeing her, that would get discussed before he even came back, and he'd be none the wiser!

In theory, this was a perfect plan that would solve two problems; Her Bossy Mom, and her Inability to deal with her unrequited love.

Closing the notebook carefully, and placing her belongings in her bag, Tsumugi dragged herself to her feet to begin the treck back down the stairs and towards the Otogi Bank; The sooner she at least spoke to someone about this, the sooner she could start to cheer up. Tsumugi hoped she'd get to the Otogi Bank before Liszt got back; Otherwise she'd freeze up, faint or worse; She'd run and end up breaking her neck on a step.

Getting to the courtyard took far longer than Tsumugi had expected, and her paranoia was beginning to kick in; She hadn't had an accident just yet, and unfortuantely for the girl, it just made her all the more jittery once she arrived at the door to the Otogi Bank. She struggled to take in a breath, glancing over at the entrance to the main building from the courtyard she was in. While there were still people around, there weren't as many as normal – This told Tsumugi it was nearing the end of recess. Her Mom had given her until the end of lunch to figure out what she was going to do, but that didn't mean Tsumugi felt comfortable cutting too many classes.

Finally deciding it was now or never, Tsumugi hesitantly tapped the knuckles of her right hand against the door of the Otogi Bank. There was no sounds echoing from inside, and no real answer, causing a faint sigh to escape Tsumugi. Maybe Liszt was the only one here, today? But that was strange, considering that there were what … eight members of the Otogi Bank? Tsumugi bit down on her bottom lip as she lowered her hand to the doorhandle, pausing for just a second, before she hesitantly turned the handle. There was just the tiniest of resistance in the handle, before a faint 'thunk' echoed, before the door began to swing inwards. Blinking momentarily at the door, Tsumugi forced herself to lean forward to look through the door in the hopes that someone was actually here.

'H-Hello?' Tsumugi called, wincing at the way her voice seemed to echo in this place. Silence; Tsumugi began to feel like she was tresspassing at that very moment – Which of course didn't help her ever-sinking mood. 'Is anyone here?'

After a few seconds, someone suddenly appeared from around the corner at the back of the room; A young woman with a kind of dark purple hair cut to her chin, with a pair of dark eyes. She wore spectacles, and held herself with a serious air to her. The dark blouse, short pencil-skirt and tights also helped convey a rather serious air to the young woman.

'Oh – I'm sorry.' The woman began, stepping around the corner and towards Tsumugi, who was still mostly hidden on the other side of the door. 'I hadn't realised anyone was here – Can I help you with anything?'

'U-uh ...' Tsumugi found herself immediately in a bit of a pinch; The woman's question had caught her off guard, and it was becoming difficult for Tsumugi to think straight. This was not her – If this was about anyone other than Liszt Kiriki, she'd be able to talk properly at least! 'Liszt Kiriki's … not here, is he?'

Finally, Tsumugi managed to get a sentence out – However the woman standing in front of Tsumugi seemed to look a little puzzled at the question.

'No, He's not. He's out on business and won't be back for a while.' The dark-haired woman explained, lifting a hand to gently reposition her spectacles higher upon her nose. 'If you'd like, I can let him know you wanted to speak with him-'

'No no!' Tsumugi piped up, shaking her head quickly as the woman standing before her began to look even more puzzled. 'Actually, I was hoping he _wasn't_ here. I … have a request, but he can't know about it until _after_ the fact!'

'Oh.' The woman seemed to speak, as if she finally grasped the situation; However, her tone of voice had not once changed through the rather confusing conversation. 'Well, come in, and we can discuss this request of yours.' The woman seemed to disappear back around the corner at the back of the room, allowing Tsumugi to finally relax just a little bit. Liszt wasn't back for a while? Maybe Mom was right, and she really had to get her problems sorted out? Now that she was acting on this, everything seemed to be working out. Closing the door behind her quietly, Tsumugi began to walk over towards what she finally noticed were two couches and a coffee table situated in the middle of the main room. Guessing the serious-sounding woman meant for her to come inside and take a seat, Tsumugi opted for the couch closest to the door of the Otogi Bank building.

'Now, I'll need some basic information about you before we discuss your request.' The woman's voice piped up, catching Tsumugi by surprise. She flinched, snapping her gaze up to the approaching woman's face as she sat down on the other couch, a small laptop in her rather elegant looking hands. She was a little too preoccupied to have noticed the cup of tea that was placed on the coffee table in front of her.

'O-Oh ...' Tsumugi felt her face colour from embarrassment as she realised she was still acting rather meek and scared, when really she shouldn't be. Sucking in a deep breath, Tsumugi focused hard on channeling at least a small bit of her confidence. 'Sorry – My name's Tsumugi Ootori. I'm in Class 1B – Studying Literature and Music as my main interests.'

'Are you aware of how the Otogi Bank works?' The woman asked as her fingers typed away at the keyboard of her laptop, causing Tsumugi to nod in response. Now that she thought about it, she had heard of one member of the Otogi Bank being very serious – Apparently her name was Alice Kiriki. 'Then you are aware that when we complete a favor for you, you will have a debt of one favor to pay at the Otogi Bank's convenience?' Again, Tsumugi nodded her head, confidence beginning to take hold of her – Finally!

'I know this request must be repaid in full, and I agree to these conditions.' Tsumugi had to resist the urge to giggle to herself; She really had been acting rather stupid today.

'Alight, then what is your Request of the Otogi Bank?' the woman Tsumugi believed to be called Alice finally asked, causing Tsumugi to bite down on her bottom lip as she began to arrange her words carefully.

'I-It's really stupid, a-and not really a big request...' Tsumugi couldn't help but drop her gaze to her lap as she struggled to find the words that would work for her. 'I … want to give something to Liszt Kirki, but – I'm a nervous wreck if I try and even say hello to him … could you make sure it gets to him for me?' Silence seemed to greet Tsumugi's words, which of course caused Tsumugi to lift her gaze to look at Alice. The woman seemed to blink for just a few seconds, before her expression softened marginally.

'Ah – So I'm assuming it's a particular type of letter you'd like delivered to Liszt, then?' Tsumugi responded with the tiniest nod of her head. Slowly, however, the faintest of smiles seemed to creep across Alice's face, which of course made Tsumugi wonder if she'd said anything foolish. Given her track reccord, it was highly likely.

'H-Have I said something wrong?'

'No.' Alice spoke, straightening up in her seat after a few seconds. 'We can do this request for you. Do you have the letter with you?'

Tsumugi shook her head hesitantly, biting down on her bottom lip as she realised she probably should have thought about that before coming down here.

'I … was hoping I could bring it in tomorrow – If that was alright?'

'Of course it is-' Alice began, however she seemed to pause for just a second; As Tsumugi saw the woman glance at something above her head, Tsumugi picked up on the faint sounds of the door closing from behind.

It was right at that moment that Tsumugi's luck had finally run out, and a faint whimper escaped the young girl as Alice replaced her gaze upon her, however, not without the concern that touched her dark eyes.

'-We'll do our best to resolve this peacefully, but we can't exactly guarantee anything.' It was all Tsumugi could do to nod mechanically at this – She knew full well who was standing barely meters behind her, she could feel her body bristle with discomfort at the quickly deteriorating situation.

'Oh, do we have a new client?' Tsumugi had to bite harder on her bottom lip as Liszt's voice caused shivers to run up her spine; The approaching footsteps also weren't helping her situation – Her instant reaction to flee was about to kick in, and she could not afford that.

'Yes.' Alice replied promptly, glancing at Tsumugi from Liszt for just a moment. 'Miss Ootori has requested that we deal discretely with a possible stalker.' The footsteps stopped as soon as Alice had finished speaking, and unfortunately for Tsumugi, she could feel a startled gaze place itself upon the side of her face. However it was smarter to leave the situation to Alice's discrete words, rather than force herself to try and speak – Tsumugi was feeling like she was about to become sick; Whether that helped with Alice's cover-story helped or not was left to be discovered.

'You're having trouble with a Stalker, Ootori-chan?' He sounded somewhat startled, however Tsumugi kept her head down as Alice prompty cut in before the nervous wreck could spoil their coverstory.

'She's not sure – Apparently there have been increasing numbers in delinquents lurking around her neighbourhood.' Alice cut in, dragging Liszt's attention away from Tsumugi for the moment; However she could feel him glance back at her after no more than a couple of seconds. 'Apparently, there is one particular suspect who seems to be following Miss Ootori on a daily basis – but she want's to make sure that it's just a coincidence. As you can imagine, Miss Ootori's rather nervous about the whole situation.' Ooh this wasn't going to be good; Tsumugi was beginning to worry that Liszt would follow this cover-story up – Of course no one was stalking her anymore – The delinquents all knew to stay well away from the Ootori residence; Her Mom would always mop the floor with them – they knew from experience!

However, the colour had faded from her face even more as she noticed movement from the corner of her eye – Of course Tsumugi couldn't help but flinch, and she snapped her gaze to the face that belonged to her favorite person as he knelt down on the floor just next to her, so he was at an equal height to her. His expression had shifted into what looked like a rather concerned look, which of course made Tsumugi feel really, _really_ guilty for this cover-story; It really looked like he was actually worried about her current 'problem'.

'Ootori-chan – How long has this been going on?' Liszt asked, and of course poor Tsumugi was having difficulty in coping with the situation – However it was rather lucky for her that her guilty and uncomfortable looks translated rather well for the situation Alice had made as a cover-story; The girl was just feeling far too horrible to be able to appreciate this fact.

'A little over three months.' Tsumugi hesitantly spoke, biting down on her bottom lip as she tried to actually answer his question as well as make it convincing – It was clear he wasn't going to let this one go without 'confirmation' from her in person. 'I'd be happy to just leave it alone if it was just an awkward coincidence and he was just hanging around – But I've got a little brother who's just started at a new school; I don't really want anything to happen to him, even if he asks for it by acting like the spoilt brat he is. That's why I've only come in now.' Tsumugi felt sick to the stomach as she forced herself to actually lie to Liszt, however, it appeared that her words were well accepted; She'd apologise in her letter to him, and hope to god that he actually forgave her.

'I see. That explains why you look rather stressed every time I've bumped into you.' Liszt spoke, shifting his gaze from Tsumugi, and over to Alice; Which of course provided just the tiniest of relief for Tsumugi as she returned her gaze to her knees, and tried to will away the nausea she was currently feeling. 'Alice, I want you to send the paperwork to me as soon as you've got it sorted; We'll have to sort this problem out for Ootori-chan as soon as we can, since it's this type of request. I want to get Ryoko onto this as soon as possible.'

'Yes, Liszt.' Alice commented, which of course caused Liszt to place his gaze upon her once again; Tsumugi had to fight against the flinch that had attempted to take hold of her.

'If anything happens before we can send Ryoko to investigate, please let us know as soon as you can.' Liszt's tone was gentle, however Tsumugi got the stomach-churning feeling that he would probably be _pissed_ if she didn't do as she was told. Pushing this asside for now, Tsumugi hesitantly nodded in response to the President's request.

'Liszt – Didn't you have a report to submit today?' Alice chimed in after a few seconds, causing the young man to shift his gaze from Tsumugi, and onto Alice once again. He seemed to think about it for a few seconds, before he stood up straight, and a smile touched his face – Tsumugi wasn't sure if it was somewhat forced, from the glimpse she'd gotten.

'Yes – I came back to collect it.' Liszt remarked, glancing down at Tsumugi as he obviously thought for a few seconds.

'You should probably get going.' Alice remarked, straightening up on her couch as Tsumugi of course remained as silent as she could manage. 'You know he doesn't like to be kept waiting.'

'You're right.' Liszt agreed after a moment, however his tone sounded … begrudging? Of course – the situation probably didn't seem too right; Tsumugi inwardly felt she'd failed in her attempt at acting, and the young man was becoming suspicious.

Not much was actually said, Tsumugi tried as best she could to become as small and insignificant asshe could manage – but that was the thing – she was probably the centre of attention, given the fact that she was a client to the Otogi bank at that moment, and a presumed stalk-ee by the president of the Otogi Bank himself. The cover-story was one that quite honestly demanded attention. As Liszt disappeared around the corner of the building, Alice seemed to place her gaze back upon Tsumugi's rather small form. The sounds of a sliding door moving echoed for just a moment, and Tsumugi found herself becoming more and more uncomfortable, the longer the awkward silence continued.

'You did well.' Alice commented once the sounds of the sliding door echoed once again, catching Tsumugi by surprise. 'He doesn't seem to believe there could be any other reason you'd be here than what we had told him. How you're acting does actually fit one of the many descriptions of a distressed girl being stalked.'

'But ...' Tsumugi whimpered as she looked up at the business-like woman meekly from her rather small position on the couch. 'But I don't have anyone stalking me, and I actually live two hours away – What am I going to do when he asks me about it next time I bump into him?'

'He asked me to submit the paperwork to him as soon as I complete it; Of course that's your real request.' Alice commented, her elegent fingers gently pressing a few of the buttons on her laptop as she paused for a few moments. 'I will explain why we were required to give him a cover-story instead of the truth in case he doesn't understand the paperwork; I wouldn't worry too much about apologising to him.'

'Y-yes...' Tsumugi slowly let out a breath as she began to relax, now that she wasn't being stared at by Liszt. 'Thank you.'

'It's no problem.' Alice spoke, pausing for just a moment as she lifted a Green leaflet file from the coffee-table, and began to flick through the contents. 'In any case, I'll provide you with some papers to complete and bring back to me with your items tomorrow.' She once again paused to quickly pull out two pieces of paper from the clear sleeves of the file, and pass them over to Tsumugi.

'Yes – I can do that.' Tsumugi spoke, however it was more or less directed towards herself; While she was finally beginning to relax a bit, she still felt high-strung over the whole situation. She quickly pulled her notebook from her bag, and gently placed the pages inside the front cover, so they wouldn't become damaged. 'When would be a safe time to bring it?'

'Tomorrow morning, before nine.' Alice remarked after a few moments silence, carefully discarding the file onto the coffee-table once again as she returned to her laptop. 'Liszt has a few tasks he has to complete, and will be out until then. He is also less alert before then, in case he happens to stumble upon us again.'

'Sounds great. I'll make sure to be here early.' Tsumugi let out a weary breath; Now that this was wrapping itself up and she could escape before Liszt came out of wherever he'd wandered to, Tsumugi found herself emotionally drained; It was bound to happen, with all the stressing Tsumugi was putting upon herself. 'Was there anything else I needed to do?'

'No – Once you bring that stuff back to me, the rest is up to me.' Alice summarised, lowering her gaze down to the laptop once again as Tsumugi blinked in surprise. 'It's best if I handle it, given your nervous nature with the request – The other members wouldn't be anywhere as discrete about it.' Tsumugi was stunned to silence for a few moments, a faint smile touching her pale face - Tsumugi was really beginning to like this woman.

'Thank you so much!' Tsumugi very nearly squeaked, however she really was quite happy; As Tsumugi carefully put her notebook back into her bag, a faint sigh escaped her as she heard the shrill cry of the academy siren; It looked like recess was over. She couldn't help but let her smile slowly trail from her face as she finally remembered;

She had to go into detail with her Mom about what her plan was. A faint sigh escaped Tsumugi as she bid Alice goodbye, and scooted herself out of the office before Liszt came back out.

Alice remained silent as she watched the door of the Otogi Bank close slowly with a dull thud, thinking slowly as she let the situation sink in on her. She actually had to keep a straight face as the sounds of that cupboard sliding aside came to her notice.

Alice never thought she'd see the day where a young girl would legitimately fancy her lazy cousin – And not in a vain way.


End file.
